Heart of the Matter
by rebyl
Summary: Post-Legacy. After his escape from the Grid, Sam realizes something is wrong. His trip into the computer aggravated a condition he rarely even thinks about. Now he has to deal with his deteriorating health along with everything else.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**: POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING - story depicts a real-life heart condition. It is accurately depicted for at least one person... though other peoples' personal experiences with the same condition may vary.

* * *

><p>The first time it happened, he was sitting next to Quorra watching Nick at Nite, listening to her explain exactly why she thought the television shows she'd seen so far were unrealistic.<p>

It amused him that after only a couple days off the Grid, Quorra had already begun to draw lines between what was "normal" and what was not. The funny thing was, she'd decided parking your vehicle in your living room was normal. After all, his Ducati was parked at one end of his garage apartment, and his dad's Light Cycle had been stored in his dwelling as well. (And just the idea that he and his dad had become anyone's measure for "normal" amused the hell out of him.)

"See? How come you never see them going anywhere? They're just there!" Quorra pointed to the characters onscreen who'd gone from home to work over a commercial break.

"That's just a part of the story they skip. It'd be boring otherwise." He heard her mumble 'if it's boring, they're not doing it right', and he laughed out loud, remembering his wild ride through the grid with her.

"You've got a point there."

After a few beats of silence she went on to explain other ways the show wasn't realistic. Just as she was getting to the part about how no one ever empties their bladder, he felt a fluttering in his chest. He coughed, then got up and walked over to the kitchen sink to splash cold water on his face. He snagged a towel from one of the drawers and looked up to find Quorra staring back at him in confusion.

He smiled. "Hey, I'm gonna get to bed, all right?"

Bedtime, more than any other time, reminded him that he needed to do something about this living situation. His place wasn't designed for two people. Hell, it was barely designed for one. He'd always thought of his apartment as his fortress of solitude; it was tiny, and it wasn't all that comfortable, but it was far away from everything, and it was all his. He'd never bought a bed, not because he couldn't afford one, but because he didn't want one taking up space. Instead he'd bought a very comfortable couch and had been sleeping on it ever since he'd made this place his home. Only now he had a beautiful girl - an ISO – (he still wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to think of her now) on his couch, and he had claimed a piece of the floor and an old sleeping bag.

A sleeping bag he now laid on, staring up at the ceiling. Quorra had lowered the volume on the TV so much that the only reason he even knew it was on was the dim flickering light that bounced off the surfaces all around him. He closed his eyes and went through his 'to-do' list one more time.

He needed to get together with Alan again sometime soon. After the big announcement they'd made yesterday, he figured he could wait a day or two to let everyone either calm down, or finish dying of shock. Soon, though, he'd have to get down to business. He didn't even want to think about how hard it was going to be to start putting the company to rights again. He made a mental note to ask Alan if any of the guys from the old days might be willing to come back.

Besides everything related to Encom, he needed to do something about a bed. That probably should've been closer to the top of his 'to-do' list, now that he thought about it. He'd probably have to find another place to live, in fact. Quorra was great, but the situation was still so new that it felt sort of temporary. Like she was a guest who'd dropped in and decided to crash at his place, forcing him to sleep on the floor, and buy fruit. He wasn't sure how comfortable he'd be giving up his 'fortress of solitude', but then again, it wasn't as if he'd have to get rid of it. He just needed something bigger for now because there was no way he was going to let Quorra out of his sight. He wasn't entirely sure if was protecting her, or the rest of the world, but he knew that unleashing her on society this soon would be unwise.

She still needed to figure out why characters in sitcoms didn't empty their bladders very often.

He fell asleep with a fond smile on his face.

* * *

><p>Sam wasn't what most people would consider an early riser, but he still managed to get showered and dressed before Quorra had even opened her eyes. After that, a quick check of the fridge told him it was definitely time to go shopping.<p>

He leaned over the back of the couch and gently brushed the short black hair out of Quorra's eyes. "Hey, Sleepy Head, it's ten o'clock and we've got shopping to do."

The ISO groaned and scrunched her eyes shut. "My whole body is sleepy, not just my head," she grumbled.

He chuckled softly. "How late were you up? You're gonna have to get used to needing sleep in this world."

She grumbled something else, but she'd turned her head into the pillow so that whatever she'd said was completely unintelligible.

"All right. Stay here and sleep, then. I'm going shopping." He turned to grab his wallet and keys from the kitchen counter, only to turn back to find her sitting straight up, hair wildly out of place, but looking much more awake now that her eyes were open.

"I want to go shopping!"

* * *

><p>They were in the frozen food aisle, discussing the wonders of microwave burritos when it happened again. One minute he was trying to convince Quorra that, once properly heated frozen burritos really were the Best-Thing-Ever, and the next minute his heart took off, galloping in his chest without warning. He must've trailed off in the middle of whatever he'd been saying, because Quorra suddenly turned her attention away from the "questionable frozen substances" and focused on him.<p>

"Sam? What's wrong?"

He coughed into one hand and turned around, looking up and down the aisle. The pounding in his chest hadn't lasted this long in a while. "Uh…"

"Sam!"

Quorra stepped closer and brought a hand up to his chest, probably to try to get him to focus on her, because it must've been obvious that his attention was elsewhere, but he turned away from her again and headed for the frozen peas.

He grabbed a bag and promptly held it to his face. "These are good too…" he mumbled in a somewhat lame attempt to justify his random pea-fondling. His heart was slowing down now, though, so he tried to put more effort into his faux-casual explanation.

"See… bags of frozen vegetables can be used for cooling off your face. It's uh… a double benefit." He replaced the peas and grinned at her.

Quorra was still looking at him like she was trying to figure something out, and he knew her well enough now to know that she didn't give up easily.

He sighed and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll show you the fresh stuff."

She let him lead her away, but they hadn't gone three steps before she had her hand up on his chest again.

* * *

><p>The slight ache in his back had moved the bed problem to the top of his 'to-do' list, so that afternoon found them exploring the local superstore while he considered his options. He figured at this point, an air mattress, or even a foam pad would be a step up from the hard floor of his apartment. Of course, he'd still need to find a new place to live, but he'd be in a better mood for apartment-shopping when his back didn't hurt from sleeping on the floor all night.<p>

"I'm still not sure I understand why users would purposely go to an area with no power, and then expect to have light during the dark cycle. If they want light, shouldn't they just stay where the power is? Or get their preferred area onto the power grid?"

She turned to him with a look that was part annoyance and part befuddlement. "What is the purpose of camping?" she asked, shaking a gas lantern in his general direction.

"Fun? I guess?" He shrugged. He'd never been too into the camping scene, but he jumped out of planes and off buildings for fun, so he was hardly in a position to judge someone else's hobby.

His phone rang just as he found the air mattresses. It was Alan.

"Hey Alan, I was going to call you later." He eyed the mattresses, looking for one with an electric pump (because he was not going to spend half the night squeezing one of the manual pumps if he had any say in it.)

Quorra began looking at the mattresses too, and pointed towards one of the bigger ones with a questioning look on her face. It definitely looked like the most comfortable, but it'd never fit in the space he had.

"Too big," he whispered. "No, that's fine, Alan. Sorry, I was talking to someone else." Alan was updating him on the recent happenings at Encom, while simultaneously trying to schedule a better time to meet with him to discuss the happenings at Encom. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Alan so enthused about anything.

He pointed to a twin mattress on the top shelf. It looked small enough. Quorra retrieved it with a smile, then went back down to the lantern area.

"How about your place, tomorrow? I promise to come after eleven so I won't wake you." Alan was saying in his ear.

"Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Alan."

It wasn't until he hung up that he realized Alan had no idea about Quorra. Sam knew that he'd at least seen her the day they'd met at the arcade, but he hadn't said anything. Then again, Sam being in the company of a beautiful woman was hardly a rare occurrence. Having one over at his apartment was unheard of, though. Alan was definitely going to notice her.


	2. Chapter 2

As it turned out, he was miraculously and dramatically saved from having to explain anything to Alan the next day. No sooner had he let Alan in and offered him a drink, than his heart had begun its rapid pounding. This time, though, his usual methods didn't help slow his heart at all. He coughed into his hand, he wet his face with cold water, he even tried a frozen burrito against his neck - nothing helped.

That was when he realized that this time it was _bad_. He'd had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome since he was a little kid, but his heart had never raced for this long. That was why they'd never made him take regular medication for it. This almost never happened - and even when it did, it was always easy for him to correct.

Part of his mind was still pondering this, but the rest of it was firmly caught up in the absolute panic of not being able to take a full breath. He didn't even realize that he'd slid down the front of his fridge until he noticed Alan on his knees in front of him, telling him to hold on.

When he next opened his eyes, he was dismayed to see the inside of an emergency room. A split second was all it took for him to remember that he hadn't done anything remotely dangerous enough to end up here. The second after that, he realized that Quorra was no where to be seen, and that was _not good_.

He felt all right, though, so he didn't think twice about sitting up and starting to get himself disconnected from the various wires that were monitoring him. The clip on his finger was no problem, but as soon as he got the first of the sticky pads off his chest, an alarm above his head started squealing, and that brought the nurse running.

She was pushing him back against the bed and babbling about him needing to rest, while he was pushing back and informing her that no, he needed to go, when Alan walked in.

He stilled at once. "Hey, Alan. Find anything good in the gift shop?"

The older man sighed and watched the nurse back away, having reconnected everything Sam had managed to disconnect.

"I had a nice chat with Quorra."

Well _that _could mean just about anything. "Great. I was just about to introduce you before - " he gestured vaguely to his chest, the hospital bed, and maybe life in general, " - all this."

"And when were you going to tell me the rest?"

Sam just looked at him, trying to stay as impassive as possible. "I -"

"I know about the Grid, and what happened. And who Quorra really is."

Sam ran a hand over his face. "Soon. All right, Alan? Soon. It's still pretty damn new to me, and between all of that, and Encom, and my damn sleeping bag, and now this - " he trailed off. He knew he was starting to babble, but he couldn't help it. They'd probably given him something for his heart, and it was effecting his brain too, damn them.

"Where is Quorra, exactly? Please tell me you didn't leave her somewhere."

Alan gave him one of those looks. The same kind he'd give Sam back when he was in school and he hadn't done all of his homework. Alan had been great about stepping up to the plate when his dad had gone missing, but he was all grown up now, and he didn't appreciate getting the 'I'm disappointed in you, young man' look anymore. Before he could protest, though, Alan rose and stepped out into the corridor, only to return with Quorra almost immediately.

The ISO bounded over to his bed and threw her arms around him. "Sam! Oh, Sam, I was so worried!"

He wrapped his arms around her, grateful that she was safe, but also a little embarrassed by her obvious distress. "I'm fine, Quorra. I'm fine."

She lifted her head from where it had settled against his chest to stare at him in shock. "You are _not_fine, Sam Flynn! They almost couldn't fix you!"

Sam looked at Alan for help, only to be on the receiving end of another 'Alan look'. He couldn't decipher this one, but after a pause Alan clarified it himself.

"Sam, you've had the same heart condition since you were a boy, and it's never been like this. To have so many episodes in such a short time... and then this one. You're going to need to get this fixed."

Clearly, the Grid wasn't all Quorra had been talking to Alan about. Now Alan was all worked up about it, and getting Quorra all worked up...

"Okay, so I'll go on the meds. It'll be fine."

"Sam, they tried the meds when they got you here, and they didn't work. They had to shock you to get your heart to slow down. The doctors want to do the catheter ablation now. They're saying you have a severe case. I don't think they even believed me when I said you'd never had an episode this severe."

"But I haven't! This is a fluke, or - I don't know. But I think the catheter thing is -" he swallowed. "- it's too much." He remembered reading about it when he was a teen. He couldn't imagine laying there awake while someone inserted a tube through his groin, all the way up to his heart. He didn't like needles. Or tubes. Or hospitals, for that matter. And there was no way he was going to let them stick tubing up half his body and into his heart while he was _awake_. He shivered a little just thinking about it.

"Sam. Look, I know you're scared, but you have to let them do this. After talking with Quorra - I think what you _experienced_" he paused meaningfully "I think that might have been what made your condition worse. I mean, think about it; you had an electric defect in your heart and you came back worse. I don't think this is going to go away."

Sam mulled that over. It hadn't even occurred to him that the Grid might have made him worse. Of course, before he'd been sucked into the computer, he hadn't even had a _minor _episode in months, so his heart had been the furthest thing from his mind. But the idea that the laser could have somehow made his condition worse in the transfer - or whatever it was - that did make some sense.

Didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"I still don't understand what's going on." Quorra's teary voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he squeezed her a little tighter to his chest.

Sam wasn't sure how much she knew about human anatomy, so he tried to keep it simple. "I was born with a defect in my heart. You're supposed to have one electric pathway that controls the beating of your heart. I have two. And sometimes they... conflict. And that causes my heart to beat too fast. I usually just cough and it goes back to normal. Or I put something cold against my face. It sort of... resets the circuit."

She nodded against his chest. "But that didn't work today."

"No, it didn't. So the doctors want to put a catheter in my heart and use a special frequency to short out the extra circuit. Once that's done, they'd remove the catheter and the extra pathway would gone, and it would never cause problems again."

"Is it safe?" she wanted to know.

"It's - yeah. It's not very risky. A little scary, but not too dangerous."

"Would it really fix you?"

"If everything goes well... I think it's got about an eighty percent success rate."

"Eighty-five to ninety-five" Alan inserted. "I already talked to the doctors about it."

Sam felt Quorra nod again. "You're doing it."

He sighed, and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Quorra... it's not that simple."

"You're _doing _it," she repeated, stronger this time.

* * *

><p>And that was how early the next morning he found himself laying on a gurney surrounded by various medical professionals, wishing he were just about anywhere else.<p>

He was given something to "relax" him, which made him feel sluggish and made him less likely to complain only because his thought process was too slow to be of much use.

After that, he only remembered bits and pieces of the procedure: staring up at the too-bright ceiling, the quiet murmuring of the doctor and nurses around him, his heart racing, and someone asking him how he felt, and then...

He must've fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes in another room to see Alan asleep in a chair nearby.

"Alan?" he asked, causing the older man's eyes to snap open.

"Sam! Hey, buddy. How're you feeling?"

"Tired. Wh'timezit?"

"Ten in the morning. They just brought you in a little while ago."

"And?"

"They're confident it worked. They want to keep you over night tonight, just to be sure there're no complications with the incision site, but everything looks great."

He got up and gently ruffled Sam's hair. "You did good, kid. Everything's gonna be fine."

"Why am I so sleepy?" Sam could already feel his eyes wanting to slip closed, but he still had more questions.

Alan chuckled. "Part of it is just the effect of the sedative wearing off... the other part is because you didn't sleep last night, remember? Quorra brought your laptop over and the two of you were up all night watching movies."

He _did _remember that, now that Alan mentioned it. Which reminded him -

"Where's Quorra now?"

"Back at your place sleeping. Relax, kiddo. Everything's really gonna be fine."

And for the first time since he'd left the Grid, he did.


End file.
